Late 1st-Half Stretch Drops Cobbers
Concordia was outscored 21-5 in the final six minutes of the first half and wound up falling to St. Olaf at home.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (2/02/19)---A 21-5 run in the final six minutes of the first half turned a 1-point lead into a 15-point halftime deficit and proved too much to overcome as Concordia fell 79-58 at home against St. Olaf.
The Cobbers took one of their two leads of the game when senior Collin Larson drained a 3-pointer with 8:19 left to play in the first half. CC led 22-20 at that point and then regained a 1-point lead two minutes later when Tommy Schyma nailed a trey to make the score 25-24. That would be the last lead of the game for Concordia as they made one more field goal and turned the ball over five times in the final six minutes of the period.
Concordia was never able to put together an extended scoring streak in the second half, got no closer than 14 points and had their 1-game win streak come to an end.
The Cobbers have now traded wins and losses in their last 10 games of the year. CC is now 7-13 overall and 6-9 in league play. The defeat drops Concordia into seventh place in the MIAC standings. They are now a half game behind Gustavus for the sixth, and final, playoff spot. St. Olaf has now won two straight games and is 11-9 in all games and 10-5 in the conference. They are currently tied for fourth place in the standings.
Concordia fell behind early as St. Olaf scored eight of the first 10 points in the game and led by as many as six points until CC made their run and took the first lead of the game on the Larson long ball.
The two biggest statistical differences in the game came from miscues and points around the basket. The Cobbers turned the ball over 17 times and the Oles turned that into a 19-11 advantage in points off of turnovers. St. Olaf was also able to use their speed on the perimeter to drive the ball and get to the basket as they came away with a 34-20 edge in points in the paint.
Concordia shot 45.8% (22-for-48) from the floor as compared to 49.2% (30-for-61) for St. Olaf. Both teams shot over 40-percent from outside the arc and the Oles held a 9-7 margin in made 3-pointers.
The Cobbers grabbed two more rebounds in the game and had a 32-30 edge in that category.
Larson and point guard Bryden Urie led Concordia in scoring. Larson had a team-high 14 points while Urie added 11. Urie also hauled in six rebounds which was tied with Schyma for the team lead.
UP NEXT: Concordia will look to continue their rollercoaster win-loss ways when they play at Macalester on Monday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. The Cobbers will then return home to host second-place St. John's on Wednesday before returning to the road and playing at fourth-place Bethel on Saturday.